Patterns for constructing CSCW applications in TINA

Abstract

There is a convergence between the idea of design patterns and the goal to achieve reuse of component design in the Telecommunications Information Networking Architecture (TINA). Patterns can be specified using graphical and syntactical notations proposed by the TINA Consortium (TINA-C) for the information and computational viewpoint languages of the Open Distributed Processing Reference Model (ODP-RM). In this article four design patterns are proposed that efficiently support Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) applications in TINA: voting, floor control, role management and group integrity criteria. The design is done with the goal of high configurability in mind. It is planned to implement the patterns to achieve an extension of a prototype of a TINA multimedia communication service. This service is thus to evolve to a collaboration service. Eventually, the implementation of the patterns should become part of an object-oriented framework for TINA applications.